View Point: Developers legal rights

Feb 6 2008 by Rachel Watkin, Liverpool Daily Post

WITH the talk of potential recession, the property market is on a knife edge. It is therefore essential that developers thoroughly investigate their legal rights prior to purchasing land or incurring the cost of development.

There certainly seem to be countless hurdles. Not only do developers need to obtain the necessary planning consent and comply with any issues raised and deal with contamination, they also need to be aware of the possibility of rights that may exist over the land.

The most alarming of these is probably the right for local inhabitants to bring a claim to have land registered as a town or village green under the Commons Act 2006.

This allows a claim to be brought where more than a significant number of local inhabitants have been using the land for more than 20 years, for lawful sports and pastimes.

However, the real blow for a developer is the fact that a claim to have the land registered as a town or village green, may be brought at any time within the period of two years after the use of the land has ceased, but where use has ceased prior to April 2007, the local inhabitants have up to five years to bring such a claim.

Fortunately for developers, very few applications are brought under the Commons Act, as local inhabitants do not appear to be aware of their rights.

The developer may need to leave the land dormant and fenced off for a period of up to five years prior to development.